In America, You Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Take A Drink of Water
What happened in Sebring, Ohio should not be happening in America. No one in any community should ever fear that when they turn on their faucet, mix formula for their baby or take a shower that the water coming out of the spigot is not safe.
Access to clean water is a necessity for our communities and protecting the safety of our water is a central duty of our government. I share the justifiable anger that the citizens of Sebring are feeling about the gross failure of this responsibility. Those who have already been impacted by toxic substances in the water deserve every level of support that can possibly be provided to them to ameliorate any damage to their health.
But what the situation in Sebring, Flint and other communities has illustrated is that America is facing an infrastructure crisis. And it’s not a crisis confined to our big, visible structures like our bridges and freeways, which often get all of the attention.
Our pipes, utilities and service lines are outdated, ineffective and dangerous. This kind of infrastructure is largely invisible, but when it breaks down the threat we face is just as serious.
As governor, we prioritized hundreds of millions of dollars in investments to rebuild, repair and expand Ohio’s infrastructure systems, from bridges to high speed broadband. We also supported low interest loans to local communities to help them upgrade their drinking and wastewater systems. These actions not only laid the groundwork for Ohio’s long-term economic growth, they helped create good paying jobs for working people in communities across our state.
In the U.S. Senate, I will lead the same kind of effort to prioritize and strengthen our infrastructure at every level — including the infrastructure necessary to protect our drinking water.
Specifically, I believe we must increase support for the programs created by the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act that help communities upgrade and improve their water safety systems and water infrastructure programs. These programs provide grants and seed money to states that can be particularly important in helping communities of all sizes build and upgrade the systems they need to ensure the quality and safety of the water they are providing to their residents.
Ohio alone has more than $12 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs over the next 2 decades, and we’ll need to redouble our efforts at the state, federal, and local level to meet this challenge. Unfortunately, in recent years support for these programs has been dramatically scaled back — and as we’ve seen from Sebring and Flint the consequences can be catastrophic.
It’s also alarmingly clear that the local, state and federal authorities that are responsible for monitoring and protecting our water are failing to adequately communicate with the public. That is why I support the recent proposal that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately notify the public if there is a danger from lead in the water system if a state refuses to do so. We can’t let red tape stand in the way of keeping our families safe.
I believe these proposals, coupled with the actions that are being undertaken at the state and local level, will help stop the horrific events that transpired in Sebring from happening again.
By investing in our water infrastructure we can protect our public health, help create good paying jobs for Ohioans, and ensure that no American is afraid when they take a drink of water.
Ted Strickland served as Ohio’s governor. He is currently running to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate.
